Something There
by onceuponacaptainswan
Summary: Killian has never liked Valentine's Day. So, naturally, he's not thrilled when the woman who seems to hate him is assigned to be his substitute assistant teacher on the day in question.


**Written for my CSSV over on Tumblr. Happy Valentine's/Singles Awareness/whatever you celebrate Day!**

* * *

He's never liked this day. The one time every year when pink and red hearts seem to take over every store window, TV advertisements, and this year, even his workplace thanks to Ruby.

Not that he has anything against love. Quite the opposite, in fact. It seemed like yesterday when he had love, when it was the thing that got him out of bed most mornings. But fate hadn't been kind to him where love was concerned. Even now, though he's made quite the effort to move on, he'd be lying if he said that just the thought of February fourteenth didn't make him slightly bitter every year.

Still, his own failing love life isn't what bothers Killian the most about Valentine's Day. What's always irked him the most is seeing couples, most only hanging on by a thread, suddenly willing to show their love for one another just because this particular day in February called for it. (And then going back to their old ways on the fifteenth.)

You'd think he would be used to seeing the elaborate decorations in the school office, in the teacher's lounge, and all over the hallway after seeing them every day for almost two weeks now, but he still cringes a bit at the sight when he walks into work on Tuesday morning. Despite how great of a friend and coworker she'd been to him over the past year, he couldn't help but ask why the bloody hell Ruby and several of the other teachers insisted on garnishing the place, especially considering the fact that she was single herself and had already said she'd be celebrating the occasion at home alone with a bottle of wine. ("Think of the children," she'd usually tell him. He'd usually reply that his fourth graders probably didn't care about more than just getting candy from their friends at school.)

"Good morning, Scrooge," the brunette greets him when she notices the sour expression on his face as he walks into the teacher's lounge half an hour before the morning bell is set to ring.

"Last time I checked, Christmas was two months ago," he replies, placing his lunch in the refrigerator, ignoring the red and white heart shaped stickes she'd not-so-sneakily stuck on his lunch box one afternoon last week.

He can almost hear Ruby roll her eyes. "That wasn't what I was referring to, smartass. I know you like Valentine's Day about as much as I like men, but that doesn't mean you have to come in looking so grumpy."

"Who said I was grumpy?" he mumbles, mostly to himself as he follows her into the hallway. Killian glances up at her over and sighs. The hard look on her face is enough to tell him she's far from amused. "I'm sorry, Ruby. The decorations aren't that bad; I'll just be glad tomorrow morning when all of this is forgotten about for the next year."

She shrugs, seeming to forgive his attitude a bit. "At least candy will be dirt cheap to compensate for it, if nothing else."

He's cut off from replying when his phone vibrates in the pocket of his jeans. It's hard not to be a bit concerned when he sees it's a message from the school's principal, Regina. She was someone he usually only came into contact with at staff meetings; personal emails were a rarity. He opens the message, half listening to a story Ruby's telling him about her last date, when he reads what Regina has to say to him and groans. "Bloody hell."

"Is my story really bothering you that much?"

He hadn't realized he'd said the words out loud. "No. It looks as if Ariel woke up with the flu, which means I'm getting our favorite substitute's help," he says, voice full of sarcastic enthusiasm. Another way of saying he'd be spending the better part of his work day with Emma Swan.

Like other things, the school counselor wasn't exactly someone Killian disliked. He liked her quite a bit if he was going to be honest with himself. But ever since they'd met on his first day at the school over a year ago, Emma had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him, and had continually been sending him the same message in one way or another ever since. It wasn't something he was happy about, considering he had only asked her out to dinner once, and never brought the subject up again when she didn't hesitate to turn him down. He found it hard to believe that one instance of suggesting a date was enough to cause her supposed animosity for him.

Ruby gave him a knowing look. "Give her a break, Killian." She had been close with Emma since they started working together a few years ago and understood her much better than he probably ever would. "This isn't exactly her favorite day of the year, either."

He sighs and shakes his head a bit as Ruby goes into her sixth grade classroom and he heads to his own down the hall. "If you say so."

Emma's sitting at Ariel's usual spot when he walks in, cleaning her glasses on the bottom of her white blouse.

"Good morning, love."

She looks up long enough to glare at him and then goes back to her glasses. "Not your love, Jones."

So it was going to be one of those days. (Or rather one of those weeks; if Ariel had the same flu that had been going around the school, she likely wouldn't be back before next Monday.) Killian figured the blonde was just excited about the two of them working together as he was. Despite her actual job being that of the school counselor, she regularly volunteered to substitute when necessary since there weren't many others in Storybrooke who were willing to fill in.

With anyone else, he would have made a sarcastic joke to lighten the mood, but now didn't seem to be the time. Deciding it best to leave her alone, he takes a seat at his own desk across the room and starts looking over the day's lesson plans once again before his students show up.

The kids are thrilled when they arrive and see Emma in the classroom, almost every one of them running over for a hug or a "good morning." Despite her aversion toward certain adults, she seemed to have no issues interacting or getting along with children, probably why she was so good at her job.

Their day together starts off as well as it possibly can, considering the circumstances. Emma has no problems taking over Ariel's usual responsibilities, helping him when he needs it, but also not acknowledging his presence unless she absolutely has to. Killian finds himself getting annoyed with her behavior and quickly begins to dread the rest of the week that they'll likely be spending together.

By ten o'clock, he's decided to give her a taste of her own medicine and starts ignoring her altogether, pretending she's not even in the room with him. He doesn't even ask her to go around the room seeing if there's anything his students need help understanding with today's lesson, just prolonging their schedule by doing all of it himself.

He can tell Emma's surprised by his behavior by the not so subtle looks she keeps giving him out of the corner of her eye while she grades the spelling papers from a test his students took last week, something he kept putting off for one reason or another. If any of them notice the tension between their teachers, they don't mention it. (They're likely too annoyed that he's just reminded them of their next test the following Wednesday.)

Saying he's relieved when the lunch bell rings at eleven thirty is an understatement. Killian loved his job, he really did, but the atmosphere in his classroom was also usually much more comfortable than it's been so far today. While he and Ariel weren't exactly close friends by any means, at least she didn't seem to have anything against him. He quickly led the students to the cafeteria before going back to the teacher's lounge for his own break, thankful for at least a few minutes of peace before going back to spend the rest of what's bound to be an awkward afternoon with Emma.

Most of the other teachers whose students have the same lunch period as his are in the lounge when he shows up. He tries to make small talk with a few of his co-workers as he retrieves his lunch box from the fridge, quickly realizing he's not in the mood to socialize and ends up taking his food back to the classroom instead of staying in the lounge like he'd planned to.

The room is empty when he returns and sits back down at his desk, but he's barely taken a bite of his sandwich when Emma returns. She stops in her tracks when she notices him, probably debating whether or not she should stay. He only raises an eyebrow at her before turning away. This little game he'd created of blatantly ignoring her had already started to get old, but he was at a loss as for what else to do at this point. He watches as she walks over to her own desk and sits, surprising considering both her opinion of him and the fact that she was known to spend her lunch break alone in her office .

It's still awkward, but manageable at first. Killian makes another attempt at ignoring her, but finds himself sneaking glances at her over his book rather than actually reading it. Once or twice he finds Emma looking back, but she always scowls when she realizes he's noticed her and goes back to eating her lunch. It happens three more times before he decides he's had enough of whatever it is they're doing, and decides to tell her so.

"Look, Swan, I'm aware that you hate me for one reason or another, but can we at least try to be civil? I don't exactly want to spend Valentine's Day with someone who feels like my mortal enemy any more than you probably do." The words tumble out of his mouth before he can stop them. He's a little surprised at his own outburst, but at least he got his point across to her if nothing else.

Emma just sits there, staring at him as her mouth falls open. "I…" she starts after a moment. "I don't hate you, Killian."

He almost laughs. "Well, you could have fooled me. Ever since the moment I tried to ask you out- which was quite some time ago, by the way- I've gotten the impression that you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me."

He watches her cheeks redden as she quickly looks away from him, from embarrassment or anger, he doesn't know. "I'm really sorry about that. It's just that I'm not exactly good with people...even worse with dating. So when you asked me out," she sighs, "it kind of scared me, even though you probably didn't have bad intentions. It's always easier for me to push people away than to risk getting hurt by anyone else."

That certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting, although he had to admit that it did make sense. He knew from living in the same small town that she had no family and a very limited group of friends; no doubt something in her past must have made a significant impact on her relationships with other people. "Ah, I see. You were right- I never had bad intentions where you were concerned, love, but I guess I can see why you felt as you did."

They're kept from saying any more when the door opens as his students come back from lunch. The rest of the afternoon goes by in a hurry as they finish what's left of his lesson plans for the day and the kids pass out the Valentine's they brought for their classmates. Several of them go as far as to give Killian his own cards and candy, telling him "Happy Valentines Day, Mr. Jones." He hadn't expected to be included in their little celebration and isn't sure how to react at first besides thanking them.

(Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't always so bad.)

He and Emma don't get the opportunity to speak to each other much at all before the bell rings, but he can tell even without words that things seem much different between them after their conversation earlier. It's comfortable. Almost...nice, even. He loses the chance to tell her goodbye at the end of the afternoon when one of the parents comes in to speak with him, but Killian almost swears he saw her give him a shy smile before she left his classroom.

The same smile greets him on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings when he arrives, somehow not dreading the rest of his week with her nearly as much.

On Friday, she asks if his offer for that date he mentioned over a year ago still stands. He almost chokes on his coffee before answering, "Bloody hell, yes."


End file.
